The Final Chapter
by MuldersMamma
Summary: How the X-Files may end...


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From: Jenn 

http://www.geocities.com/muldersmamma

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Title: The Final Chapter 

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Summary: How the X-Files may end…

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Rating: PG 

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Comments are appreciated at muldersmamma@hotmail.com 

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Major Spoilers: general S9

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Distribution: go for it! Keep these headers with it, and please drop me a line and let me know where it's goin!

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Disclaimer: They're not mine. They're Chris Carters', 1013s', and FOXs', but you already knew that. And if they were, I wouldn't have to post this here, would I? :P

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THE FINAL CHAPTER

-by Jenn

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The daily routine of Dana Scully had become mundane, at best. Each day mimicked that of the day before, and fell into a rhythm she detested. And as the sun set every day, though as much as she hoped and prayed, she was remained alone. She dreamed and fantasized that one of these days, her loneliness would end, as Fox Mulder would once again waltz through her door and lift her to the stars. She cursed herself for being so naive…sick to her stomach that she even allowed part of herself to believe that.

***

"I will expect your papers due in by Friday, no later, so I can spend all of my precious weekend marking them." The legion of students before her at the FBI Academy stared back blankly, a few pages rustled, a cough on the background, nothing else. "Are there any questions?" She was cut of the tone of the bell which sounded, signaling the end of yet another long day.

She left the class, brief case in hand, and quickly made her way to the small office which had been given to her. The phone rang, calling her back into the room as she was about to leave.

"Dana Scully."

"Dana? It's Monica Reyes. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Agent Reyes. What is this about?"

"Actually, I was wondering if I could get your opinion on a case."

Scully glanced at the clock, her feet told her, the day was done.

"Look, Monica, I'd love to help you out, but could you possibly meet me at my place an do it? I have a baby to get home to."

"Sure, Dana. I'll meet you there shortly."

Reyes clicked off her phone, and suddenly became very aware of another presence near by the basement office."

"Who's there?" Her voice, was sharp, confident, accusing.

"It's just me, Monica. What's wrong?" John Doggett appeared before her, as she was sitting at the desk. "You seem to be a over-reacting."

She relaxed at the familiar face of her partner as he approached her.

"I'm not too sure John. I've been reading over this case for a while, and have been getting these feelings…that something is not quite right."

His quizzical expression prompted her to continue.

"I'm not quite sure exactly about what, or why. I know it's from this case, but I can't quite put my finger on what part."

He reached for the case file which lay open in front of her. "Where did you get this from? This picture…an autopsy report…."

It was on the desk when I got back from the Assistant Director's office. I thought you had got it from somewhere. You've never seen it?"

"No, I haven't." They were both quiet as they considered this.

"Well, I have to look into it. I already called Agent Scully for her opinion…I was just about to head over."

"I'm not so sure that's a great thing to do. I think Scully wants to return to as of a normal life as possible. Bringing an X-File in may not be the best way of doing that."

"Something is telling me to go to her. By this point in my life, John, I've learned to follow my instincts.

***

"Thanks again for watching William, Mom," Scully called after her mother as she locked the door behind Margaret Scully.

Dana held her son as he grabbed a hold of her fire-red hair. She became overwhelmed with emotion, of the realization of how much growing her son has done over the past year, and his father was never there to witness it. Not since the week of his existence.

A soft rap at the door startled her.

"Dana?" a muffled voice called to her, "It's Monica, and John is here with me too."

After placing the drowsy child in his crib, she checked the watch-hole to verify the presence behind the door.

"Hey," she said, thin-lipped, as allowed her colleagues into her home.

"I hope you're doin' alright Agent Scully, we don't mean to be too much trouble." Doggett was sincere.

"It's no trouble. What's this about?" she asked, resting her eyes on the papers clasped in the hands of Agent Reyes.

"This case," she began, "was left to us by an unknown source. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it."

"What is it, exactly?" She reached for the file, beginning to flip through it.

"It's a murder, that's all. To me, no X-File so why it was in our office is beyond me. But Reyes is getting those vibes, feelings tellin' her it's more than that." Doggett watched as Scully became engrossed with what she saw, and sank to her couch immersed in the file, reading it carefully. Her expression changed from one of professionalism and skepticism to confusion, and unbelievability. 

"Where did this come from, again?" her voice was slow, she was in obvious thought, lost somewhere else.

"We don't know. It was left on the desk today. I thought Agent Doggett had put it there. But he hadn't." Reyes glanced at her partner. "Why?" She focused her attention back to Scully. "What do you see?"

"It's not really what's in the case, really. But look _where_ it happened."

"Oregon." Agent Doggett suddenly clued in.

Scully continued. "Mulder and I have been there a few times, investigating a case, right where this has happened. Our first case together was here. Billy Miles…remember….?"

"Do you think it's worth checking out?"

"Monica, I don't think you should risk not finding out."

***

John Doggett was unsure of their quest. He was convinced that they were not going to find a thing. But they were stuck, after bringing Scully into the whole thing. He was quiet on the matter though…as long as when they returned it would put Scully, and Reyes for that matter, at ease.

He knocked on the door of the neighbor of the man who was killed. When there was no response from the other side, he knocked louder, calling the man's name.

"Mr. Wright? Are you there? FBI…we just need to talk to you for a few minutes." He paused. "Mr. Wright?" No answer. He knocked again. Three times. When Reyes reappeared from the side of the house, he noticed the look on her face, and knew she had found nothing.

Agent Reyes remained speechless as their attempt to uncover any clues became lost. An audible sigh of frustration escaped her lips as they ventured back to the rental.

"We'll go to the prison next, to talk to the officers there. We'll check on the man's record, and see what we can find. It's been a long day, we'll pack it in after this. That sound all right to you, Monica?"

She avoided his look as they got into the car. "I'm sorry, John. For leading you around. Maybe there really is nothing here. But as much as I begin to think that, something else tells me to keep going." She looked over at him finally, hoping for his comprehension.

"It's okay. We'll both keep lookin' until both of us find there is no reason to continue."

***

"FBI," the officer stated when they reached the minimum security prison and police offices. "It's about time you got here."

"I'm sorry sir…I don't really know what you mean. We weren't called here, by any means," Reyes explained, confusion masking her.

"Well, we're damn lucky you showed up then."

"What are you talking about?" Doggett asked, as he and Reyes followed the man into some rear offices.

"There's been a murder here. This morning. One of the inmates, a fairly newcomer, was killed. We don't know by whom, and we were never completely sure who the man was…if he was really who he said he was. He never had any I.D. or anything. He was only here a few weeks before he died."

"Why did you call the FBI in on this?"

"Strange circumstances. Cameras were covered, so we never actually saw anything. Plus, even though we're not a maximum, security facility, we certainly know how to keep an eye on these guys. This sort of stuff just doesn't happen."

He handed them security clearance cards after checking their I.D., then the stocky man took them inside the building, leading them into a dimly lit room. "Local P.D. has already been here, but didn't move the body yet…thought you folks might like to see it first. We moved the inmates from surrounding cells in that block, so you don't have to worry about that."

The man was face down, his head bludgeoned to a gory mess. The rest of his body remained, though badly bloodied and battered.

"Jesus," Agent Doggett commented. "Who ever did this is some kind of sicko."

"Who did you say this man was, again?" Reyes asked, suddenly spooked. Her energies raised the hair on the back of her neck, foreseeing what the officer was about to tell her.

"Like I said before, we never had a positive I.D. on him. There was another prisoner here who kept calling him a name, to get his attention, like he knew him. But we don't think it really had anything to do with his real identity."

"What did he call him?"

"He just kept calling him 'Fox'."

Reyes and Doggett suddenly snapped to a new level of interest. She walked over to corpse, recognizing the stature, the build. The familiarity made her sick to her stomach.

"Were you ever able to confirm any identity?" Her voice cracked. "…dental records…anything?"

"Dental records," he mocked, "from that? Not a chance in hell."

"Get a formal FBI forensic team in here. I want a DNA test. Make sure the results are sent to us, and only to us," Doggett was stone cold. "I need this as soon as possible. You got me?" He stared down the officer.

The man nodded.

"Now, who was the man who was callin' this guy by his name. We need to talk to him."

"He was released Friday, five days ago now. He was just a petty car thief."

"He was never considered a suspect?"

"No, he was released before this even happened."

He was still for a brief moment, not be defeated. "We're going to look around a little bit. Maybe we will pick up something that you guys never did."

He was hesitant, but conceived. "You've got the passes, you shouldn't have any trouble with security." He nodded to them, and disappeared around the corner.

The didn't say anything to each other for a few minutes. The looked through the cell, there were no personal effects to speak of. As they left th body of the man behind and continued on their search, Doggett spoke up.

"I refuse to believe it.

"John…" Reyes broke the silence, "even if you do…what are we going to tell Dana?" They continued on, until they reached the doors to leave the inmate area.

"Nothing. Not yet. How do we know it's really him? We don't. We're just making wild assumptions here."

"Why else would I – we – have been lead here?"

He was wordless.

The doors opened, and they proceeded through. The search through the paper work, and speaking with the other inmates yielded nothing. As the daylight hours diminished, their desperate attempt to remove this somber, nagging possibility from the back of their mind weakened.

They left this place empty handed.

"We should try and catch the late flight back. We'll intercept those results as soon as they come in. Depending on what they come back as, we'll go from there."

Agent Reyes gave him a grim smile, as they continued on.

***

She needed out. She desperately needed to get away. It was driving her to the brink of insanity…each day that passed increased the magnification of the desperation that lived inside of Dana Scully. Her pain, her guilt…she just needed him…she needed Fox Mulder.

When Reyes and Doggett first came to her with that file, her thoughts of Oregon overwhelmed her. And as many times over those years she wished it would just end so she could lead a normal life…she longed for it now. She longed for those extended car rides…the late night motel stops…for him.

Scully had sensed that Doggett and Reyes knew something…and were keeping it from her. For what reasons, she did not know…but not a single word had been spoken to her about what had transpired in Oregon since they had discovered within that file three days previous.

She made her way down to that X-Files office, from which she had refrained from for weeks. She made up her mind that it was time to go to Oregon herself. 

The familiarity and memories of the dark office saddened her once again as she searched for the aforementioned file and report. She detested this depression which had begun to strangle her. It was time to figure things out for herself.

As she fingered through the active files on the desk, the soft tone of her cell phone startled her.

"Hello?"

"Dana? It's Skinner. Would it be possible for me to see you today?"

"I'm actually in the building, Sir. I'll be up as soon as I can."

"Sure. Just come right in."

She remained and searched a little longer for the file, to no avail. A small sigh of frustration escaped her lips as she emerged from the office empty handed.

***

She walked into his office, not knowing what to expect. Doggett and Reyes were already seating, and looked to her as she stepped inside.

Walter Skinner nodded to her, and motioned for her to have a seat to the side of the other two agents.

"This is about Oregon," she stated, and watched the expressions of the other three who were aware of what was going on.

She sat, and waited for someone to fill her in on the big secret that has left her in the dark these past days.

"We did go there, a few days ago, after we advised with you," Reyes started. "We, in fact, did not get anywhere with the original murder. It did lead us to another, at a nearby holding facility." She took a deep breath, unaware of how Scully would take the remainder of the story. "There was a man there, who was killed…in the prison. A few things led us to believe that this man was Mulder."

Scully gripped the arms of the chair tighly, not quite believing what she was hearing. Disbelief and shock ran through her, and she became unable to speak…unable to react.

"But it wasn't." Doggett jumped in. "We ordered blood work and a DNA test. We tried to match up the DNA from the victim with Mulder's karyotype charts. They didn't match."

Scully breathed out, a wave of relief started to pass over her, but she knew the story wasn't finished. A tear awaiting releases from her glossy eye chose that moment to spill over as she waited for completion.

"We went through the files, and did some checking up," Skinner trudged on, seeing how painful any memories of Mulder were for her, "…and Mulder was there, but under an alias. And he wasn't the man killed. What we know, is that he is no longer there, but the man murdered wasn't him."

Scully waited for anymore. When no one else chose to speak up, she gained composure over her tears and spoke.

"So why am I here? Why exactly are you telling me this? Are you telling me Mulder is a murderer? What are you saying?"

Doggett leaned over and touched her hand, speaking softly. "We're saying he's still alive. That's all."

She nodded, then rose from her seat. "Thank-you."

** *

As she drove home that evening, Scully had no tears. She was unsure of what she was feeling…unsure of what she was _supposed_ to be feeling. She knew she had to get out from this heavy blanket she had been trapped under. She had to do something about it.

Scully knew she was going to the extreme on this. She loved Mulder more than words could ever say…he gave a child, and he gave her his love. She became able to love herself because of him.

Everywhere she went, she thought she saw him. Driving home this day, she swore she was looking for him, now that this new possibility had been brought to light. She thought she saw him…but each time, after nothing more than a mere blink, all she saw was a stranger staring back at her. 

She parked her car at the front of the building. Again, she saw a man that appeared to be Mulder at first glance, inside a cab. She quickly looked down and cursed herself, slamming the car door shut in anger. Tears were looming as she locked the door and began towards the stairs. 

She looked back at the taxi, and watched the man get out and turn to pay the driver. She blinked. Twice. Shook her head. The image of him did not disappear. She timidly stepped closer, watching him.

His tired, worn body leaned through the window. Visibly drained, he thanked the driver, and waited for the vessel to drive away. He hesitated, taking a deep breath before he moved. 

Scully could not believe herself. She would not allow herself to be taken again.

She called out, meaning to be louder, but her voice caught in her throat as the tears let loose.

"Mulder….?"

He turned, surprised. His weary eyes softened as he saw her from the mere short distance which now separated them.

"Scully…my god, Scully."

She dropped her brief case to the ground and ran to him, sinking into his arms. Tears streaming down her face, she sobbed. She felt his hot tears on her neck as he held her, his strong arms protecting her, promising her that he would never let her go. She grabbed at his back, needing every inch of him. He ran his hands through he hair and took in her scent.

After what seemed like a wonderful eternity, they broke apart and looked into the eyes of the other. She held his face as he held hers. They didn't speak…they didn't need to. She kissed him, as she did, she witnessed the two coming together to the completion of a whole. 

They remained connected until she broke apart. "Come see your son." She murmured to her opposite. They walked together, arm in arm, tightly telling each other without speaking, that this time, they were never going to leave each other.

***

Three days after the meeting, Reyes and Doggett had reached a stagnant on the case. They had not an intimation that Mulder was closer than they could ever imagine.

"John?" Reyes got his attention, "I haven't been able to reach Scully since we told her about all this." She paused. "I think we made a mistake."

He sat down across from her, at the desk. He turned and looked at the 'I Want to Believe' poster which watched him everyday.

"Skinner tells us not to worry, that he's spoken to her, but I can't help but think the wounds we may have pulled back open."

She sighed. "I want to go there…I need to talk to her."

He followed her with his eyes as she stood. "Let's go."

***

They arrived at the all to familiar apartment, knocking on the door. No answer. Doggett tried the door, which to his surprise, gave way. 

"Scully?" He said, as they entered the apartment. They were completely taken aback when they entered…everything was gone, leaving the space barren.

"What the hell…?" He looked over at Reyes, seeing the surprise on her face. They slowly began to walk around the room, bewildered.

"Agent Doggett?" He heard a far voice from the back bedroom call.

"Agent Scully? Are you all right?" He made a beeline for the room.

She emerged, a warm smile on her face. She looked refreshed…relaxed.

"What's going on?" He looked at her, and she looked to the floor. Reyes looked around, piecing everything together.

Dana Scully looked back at them. "I can't imagine what you guys are thinking," she began, the smile growing. "Let me just say….that this time, we're doing it right."

"Dana? Everything's in the car…are you ready?" Mulder appeared at the door, William on his hip, looking up expectantly.

"Agent Mulder?"

"Mulder?"

Reyes and Doggett were taken aback in unison as they realized the figure in front of them.

He smiled and looked at Scully, their eye contact speaking a chemistry that could be duplicated by no one else.

Scully walked over to him, past the Agents, and took William into her arms. Mulder put his arm around her shoulders, and Scully began her explanation.

"To be without each other, as we realized in these past few months, became too much. I'm sure you two know what I mean.

"For almost nine years, we ran from everything. The truths we could never quite face. All the running brought nothing but suffering for both of us. Now, it's time for us to just stop. And be together. To be a family."

The two agents had a million questions they wanted to ask, but knew it wasn't quite the time.

"I want to thank you two," Mulder spoke next. "For everything. For being with Scully when I couldn't be. And for a providing enough of a distraction to get me away from Oregon. With no suspicion. Without you two, I wouldn't be here right now."

"I was just going to come and see you two now, before we left. But I'm glad you came here." Scully looked to both of them. " I don't have to tell you how much you two have meant to me." She walked over to Reyes, and hugged her. She then stood in front of Doggett, and said to him, "Thank-you," as they embraced.

"I'll be in touch, one day."

Scully and Mulder turned, and before they disappeared from their lives as they knew it, Scully turned, the smile gone from her face, and left them with a single sentence that resounded between their ears…

"Whatever you two may find in your search…always know that the real truths…the ones which matter the most, lie within yourselves. Have the courage to believe these truths…it is those that will save you." 

She nodded to them, turned before they could see her tears, and walked with Mulder into their next life.

***


End file.
